1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of cooking appliances and, more particularly, to a system for supplying both a combustion airflow to a plurality of oven burners arranged within a range and a cooling airflow for cooling certain portions of the range.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In general, it is common to provide a system to supply combustion air to gas burners within a cooking appliance. It is also known to provide a system to cool a domestic oven or the like so that the exterior of the oven is safe to touch during operation of the oven, while further protecting any surrounding cabinetry from extreme heat.
Typically, a cooking appliance in the form of an oven range includes a single oven cavity and a pull-out drawer near the base of the range. In order for a gas burner to function efficiently, a sufficient amount of air must be available to fully combust the gas emitted from the burner. In most applications, the air flows around the drawer and into internal portions of the appliance. In addition, many prior art gas cooking appliances have often relied upon forced air systems for delivering sufficient air to the combustion and cooling systems. However, while effective, all such forced air systems have particular cost and reliability concerns. Specifically, the fan, its motor and associated controls add to the expense of the overall appliance and, often times, present long term reliability concerns. In order to ensure an adequate airflow, many prior art systems provide separate combustion and cooling airflow systems. Such systems necessarily increase the overall size of the unit making them unattractive for use in modern kitchen range systems.
Still other design problems arise in the particular arrangement of insulation within an appliance cabinet. In order to ensure a constant oven temperature, an insulation blanket is typically wrapped about the oven cavity. In addition to maintaining a heated atmosphere within the oven cavity, the insulation serves to lower internal, as well as external, appliance temperatures. In particular, insulation located between an oven cavity prevents the supporting surface, e.g., a kitchen floor, from being exposed to high temperatures generated with the oven.
In gas ranges, the insulation becomes a barrier to the airflow thus starving the burners of an adequate supply of air. As such, manufacturers typically remove the insulation from about the combustion components to ensure an adequate airflow to the burner(s). Other provisions include staggering the insulation in a plurality of layers. With this arrangement, heat is maintained within the oven cavity, while air is free to flow into the combustion areas. However, a drawback with this arrangement is the additional space required for multiple layers of insulation. Therefore, this option is not an attractive alternative for modem kitchen ranges, especially where space is of considerable concern.
Based on the above, there exists a need in the art of gas cooking appliances employing a natural convection flow for a system to supply a cooling and combustion airflow to a cooking appliance in the form of a dual oven range. In addition, there exists a need for a combustion and cooling system for a cooking appliance which includes an insulation layer below the lower oven cavity, while still enabling an adequate airflow to the combustion components.
In accordance with the present invention, a cooking appliance constituting a gas range includes a cabinet having first or upper and second or lower oven cavities, with the cabinet being generally defined by a front portion, opposing side panels and a base portion. The range further includes first and second burner assemblies positioned to radiate heat into the upper and lower oven cavities respectively. The oven cavities are spaced from the opposing side panels such that at least one passage is established between the oven cavities and an associated side panel.
In a preferred form of the present invention, an ambient air inlet opening is positioned in the front portion of the cabinet, adjacent to the base portion. With this arrangement, an ambient airflow is introduced into the cabinet through the inlet opening. In accordance with a more preferred form of the invention, a first portion of the airflow is directed to the first burner assembly, and a second portion is directed to the second burner assembly. As the airflow passes to the first oven cavity, a cooling effect is provided to the side panels of the cabinet. Once the first portion of the airflow reaches the first oven cavity, a portion of the airflow supplies combustion air to the first burner assembly, while another portion continues to cool interior surfaces of the range as the airflow passes from the range.
In the most preferred form of the present invention, a quantity of insulation extends laterally across a bottom of the second oven cavity and defines an elongated air channel which leads the second portion of the ambient airflow to the second burner assembly, while maintaining sufficient insulation below the oven cavity in a compact arrangement. With this construction, the second burner assembly is assured of an adequate air supply, while heat is maintained within the second oven cavity.